Student unions sore over varsity move to scale down internal marks

As per the new policy,If marks in the internal assessment and the semester-end examination differ by more than 20 per cent,the marks in internal assessment will be scaled down by the varsity. The new norm is applicable to all semesters of UG and PG courses in science,arts and commerce faculty.

Dr T P Madhu Nair,MU’s Dean,faculty of commerce,and member of varsities committee that reviewed the internal assessment,said even the Vice-Chancellor cannot change the rule now as it was passed unanimously in the academic council meeting.

“Any change can be made only after discussing with academic council members. This policy is not just implemented by the Mumbai University. Many well-known universities that follow internal assessment pattern have this rule to prevent malpractices. As of now,the policy will be implemented,” said Nair.

Student unions Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Maharashtra Navnirman Vidhyarthi Sena have termed the move “illogical and against

natural justice”.

In a letter to Vice-Chancellor Rajan Welukar,ABVP has threatened to stage protests if the university does not change the policy.

“Most students mug up for theory exams,while for internals they have have practical tests and projects. Not only this,but students are also assessed on attendance and class performance. The exams are different and the way the assessment is done is different,too. So how can varsity officials compare the marks students have scored in the two exams? It will be unfair to students. This is not a solution to curb malpractices in colleges,the varsity will have to come up with a new regulation to ensure that misuse of internal assessment does not take place,” said Yadunath Deshpande,organising secretary,ABVP

(Mumbai).

An ABVP delegation met the Welukar recently and discussed the issue. MNVS activist and university senate member Sudhakar Tamboli said,“A student’s performance should be judged on aggregate,not on theory and internal exam marks separately. Students tend to get more marks in internal exam as students. We do not support the

policy.”

MU pro-vice chancellor Naresh Chandra said,“The policy has been introduced and we will see what can been done.”